


Protection or Obsession?

by MinxChu



Category: Dead by Daylight (Video Game)
Genre: Anna | The Huntress - Freeform, Blood and Gore, Charlotte | The Twins - Freeform, Explicit Sexual Content, F/F, Face Slapping, Forced Relationship, Inspired by Dead by Daylight (Video Game), Jealousy, Kidnapping, Lesbian, Lesbian Sex, Obsession, Obsessive Behavior, Rape, Rape/Non-con Elements, Rough Kissing, Rough Sex, Sexual Violence, Smut, Smutty, Stalking, Unhealthy Relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:28:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24338152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MinxChu/pseuds/MinxChu
Summary: A mysterious woman takes care of you after you suffer from amnesia due to an accident. You wanna know more about the world outside the forest and about yourself.But...She knows what's best for you.One or none."She loves me more than she could ever possibly love herself..."
Relationships: Anna | The Huntress & Reader, Anna | The Huntress/You, Charlotte Deshayes/Reader, Charlotte Deshayes/You, Charlotte | The Twins & Reader, Charlotte | The Twins/Reader, Charlotte | The Twins/You
Comments: 63
Kudos: 301





	1. Lost

The mist is thick and it rains hard.

You were around 16 when you were going on a trip to Russia with your family.

As a teenager you were really hard to handle, at least that's what your parents always said and thought. To you, it seemed normal that you wanted more freedom and right to decide. You were holding your mp3 player in your hand and listened to some pop music. This trip was something you didn't wanna participate at but your parents forced you to come to join them. What you could do in Russia anyway, you didn't know the language or anything about it.

With both your knees up on the car seat, you look outside the car window. "Put your legs down missy! How often I need to tell you to not put them on the car seat darling?" your mother huffed.

"Sorry..." you answer back annoyed and put your legs down. It was always annoying to you how they treated you like a little child. You were 16 that's definitely not a child anymore, but your parents seem to take the sentence 'You are forever my little child no matter how old you are" to another level, you were still their little princess.

"Mom when do we arrive? I'm tired and exhausted sitting here for six hours almost! And why Russia? None of you are Russian and you can't even speak the language..."

"Honey you asked this so many times after we started driving I lost the counting, we arrive soon." she tells you while looking into her book.

You let out a big sigh and lean your arm against the edge of the car window, resting your head against your hand. "You said soon many times, so when is soon?!"

"Patience darling, it's not much left maybe take a nap and time passes faster for you," your father says while he is driving the foggy road.

"You asking us when we will arrive doesn't make it faster for us you know? And of course, we don't talk the language but many people don't speak Japanese or Chinese either yet they visit those countries right?"

You keep looking outside and hear how the raindrops hit the window. "I guess so.."

For the winter breaks you rather wanted to spend time with your friends and not with your parents and that in Russia. You and your friends had already planned a few things but thanks to your parents, it all went the river down. Now you were sitting in a car and watching tall pines, all covered in a coat of mist and fog.

"Is the place we go scary like this mom? It reminds me here more of the movie 'Silent hill' than a winter vacation place..."

Your mother turns her head to you and looks at you a little annoyed, "Hun you wanna complain the whole time? Of course not, this is just a road and once we pass it, we arrive after a bit more driving to our destination"

"Fine...but why you are getting annoyed by me? Pfff..."

"I should be the one feeling moody! You both forced me to come with you!"

You cross your arms in front of your chest and look away.

"Hey hey, don't talk like this to your mother, I know you are moody darling but we can't leave you alone at home right?" your father tells you in a calm voice.

"yeah but you could cancel this stupid trip..." you murmured to yourself barely hearable

"Did you just speak back again?" your mother asks you in a threatening tone.

"No..ugh!"

You frown and keep looking outside the window again, parents like yours sure can be annoying. The road seems to not end no matter how much your father is driving. You lean back and close your eyes, listening to your music again.

As you are slowly falling asleep, the car stops. You open your eyes slowly and blink a few times, did you finally arrive? Looking around, you still see the same tall huge pines covered in a misty foggy veil.

"What happened? Why did we stop?" you ask curiously while rubbing one of your eyes a bit sleepy.

"We think we found a shortcut dear, I mean your father found it...this could shorten the path we need to drive"

your mother responds as she looks to you from the car mirror.

Hearing this makes you curious and you open the car door to jump out. Finally, after sitting for hours, you can stretch yourself a bit and get some fresh air. It keeps raining and the mist gives you a slight shiver but it doesn't bother you much. You feel how cold your cheeks get and you breathe deeply in and out, watching the fog forming as you breathe out.

"Papa? Where will we go? what will you do?"

Your father looks at the map and gestures you to come closer. "It seems we are at an unknown area here"

You blink a few times and look at his finger which is pointing on the map

"Unkown? Does that mean it's untouched and lots of wildlife live here?"

He nods and scratches the back of his head, "I'm not sure but this might shorten the distance we need to drive."

Suddenly you take the map away from his hands, "DAD?! You know that it is dangerous to do it! If no one was there yet, there won't be roads but wild animals! That's crazy and stupid to do... just so we arrive faster?!"

Your father takes the map from you and raises his voice as he speaks.

"Not in such tone young lady! The decisions are made among the grown-ups, now go back into the car and don't throw a tantrum here!"

"B..but". He doesn't let you speak anymore and grabs your arm to pushes you into the car.

"Mama, you know what papa wants to do?!" you ask your mother panicked and lean forward to grab the back of her seat.

"Sit down, and yes but don't worry nothing will happen we just pass it quickly and arrive faster hopefully, that's all"

You sit back on your seat and look to your father who is still outside and checks a bit on the wheels. As a teen, you can't do anything or make them change their mind. You grab your bag next to you and take a bubble gum package out of it.

Sometimes you feel like your parent's sole purpose was just to annoy you till you are legal age. Your mother turned her head back to you and gave you a sympathetic smile.

"I know this trip is getting exhausting darling, but we will have a good time trust me"

You roll your eyes, this didn't exactly lift your extraordinarily bad mood. Not responding to her is probably the best you can do.

The car door in the front opens and your father gets in. "Ok, I did some checkups we should be fine to go now. This shortcut better be good there isn't much fuel left"

'Why you choose to go a risky path if your car is almost empty on fuel' you think to yourself. Saying this loud wouldn't make a difference anyway.

The deeper your father drives into the forest which he shouldn't even do, the more anxious you get. You feel uncomfortable to look around to see nothing but thick mist everywhere, even the tall pines are barely visible. This honestly looks like some scene of a horror movie, you shake your head and try to push away the further scenarios you were about to think which usually happen in horror movies.

You think to yourself a nap is the best option, till you leave this cursed looking place. The thought of it that you all might get lost in this huge deep forest or getting attacked by some wild animals gives you the chills.

With your head leaned against the car window, you suddenly see a glimpse of something tall standing in the woods. Quickly you sit up straight and take a look again as you pass that one spot. You rub your eyes with your hands and blink a few times, was this your imagination? Or was there someone's shadow just standing there?

"Mom? did you just see it too?" you ask her panicked.

"What?"

"That huge shadow standing there, we just passed by it! It was standing there it looked like a tall human! I saw it!"

Your mother looks out from the window and continues reading her book then. "Are you daydreaming again? Dear can you drive slower and drive a bit back so your daughter can see there is nothing and it was just her imagination" she says, bothered by your 'imaginations'.

Slowly your father drives backward, luckily no one is driving here beside you and your family. You place both your hands like a curious child on the car window and analyze each spot carefully.

"If there was something you would see it again by now darling, you just need a bit sleep that's all".

Your expression turns into a frown, you could have sworn you have seen something in the woods. The car stands like ten minutes at the spot you claim you have seen something strange. "We should go and not waste time anymore"

The car started to drive again, you sat down anxious from what you have seen not so long ago.

"See? There isn't anything to be afr-"

Everything happened to fast, a tall shadow figure ran in front of the car. Your mother's scream filled the car and your father turned to the left to not hit whatever came in front of the car.

You scream loud and cry as the car seems to fall from a cliff, all you see at this point is the sky, the trees switching their view fast in your vision. Suddenly everything turns black in front of your eyes, only your father's and mother's screams echo a bit and even that slowly fades away as you lose your consciousness.

It feels warm, Something is dripping down of your forehead. You feel unbearable pain in your head and body. Slowly you open your eyes. What did happen? Where are you? You woke up in the middle of the woods. Tall pine trees surrounded the car.

Your forehead is leaning against the back of the front seat of the car. Glass splitters everywhere? Blood? Why are you in such a destroyed car? You painfully try to sit straight, one of your arms is hanging out of the car window, which is completely shattered. You whimper as you try to take your hand in again, it has many glass splitters in it, digging into your soft flesh, making blood run down from your arm down to your hand. You take in a sharp breath as you finally take your arm back in and lean back against the seat.

"Wh...where I am?" you whisper confused to yourself.

It nearly seems impossible to get up, your legs and arms are covered in glass splitters and you can feel how a huger piece of glass tore its way into your hip. The agonizing pain drove tears into your eyes.

"Som...Someone help me please" you manage to say, which isn't hearable. You close your eyes and hear the rain getting stronger. Why you can't remember anything? How long have you been in this car?

You can't stay here forever or it will get problematic for you with those injuries. With one of your hands, you try to open the car door but it won't open, maybe something is blocking it?

With all the last strength left in your body, you try to reach the window, it is too painful for you to move even slightly. You forcefully ignore the pain and keep trying to reach the broken car window, more pain ripped throughout your body. You try to press your body forward to somehow get out of the window, the pain through your whole body makes you whimper and whine out loudly.

Finally after struggling a while, you throw yourself out from the car window and hit the wet cold ground with your face and hands. As the rain pours down on you fast and strong, blood is covering the grass below you in crimson red color. It's your blood that is dripping down your wounds. The cold mist and cold rain slowly makes your vision hazy. You keep staying on the ground a while, long enough to get a bit energy back. You can sit up then and analyze the surrounding a bit. Why you can't remember anything at all? What happened and how long you been unconscious in that car, why were you even in that car?

The glass shard in your hip makes each movement burn your whole body. You look down at your hip and then on your bloody hands. How are you supposed to take this out, you might injure yourself even more. Carefully you place your fingers on the glass shard, slowly you try to pull it out. The pain makes you scream out loud and shut your eyes. It has to get out eventually so you decide to ignore the pain the best as you can. Inch by inch you get the shard out of your hip which has pierced its way deep into your flesh, the more you pull out, the more your wound stretches.

With one sudden quick pull, you finally manage to pull it out. You throw the shard away and take a sharp breath in. Blood runs down of the wound and you put your hand on it, trying to stop the wound from bleeding out. With your vision slowly getting blurry you realize you are losing to much blood already. If you can't find help, you will pass out here sooner or later.

Helplessly you look up to the dark grey sky, what can you do in this big unending looking forest? Tears streamed from your eyes. You bite your lower lip frustrated. Without any energy left in your body, you keep sitting on the cold wet ground, not bothering with all the sticks and branches below you. After a while of resting on the ground, you force yourself to get up. Your gaze wanders to the car. Slowly you walk towards it while still pressing one hand on your wounded hip.

"Why I was in this car?" you murmur to yourself and step closer to it. Your eyes were torn wide open with panic when you try to inspect the inside of the car. Two people in the front, their lifeless body covered in their own blood. Filled with mortal fear you start to step back and cover your mouth with your free hand. Suddenly your fear grows stronger than your pain. You start running away and take one look again at the car, a hatchet at the front window of the car? How? And who were those two dead people in the car?

Feeling nauseous all of a sudden, you rest your hand on one tree. 'What is going on here' you think to yourself as you rest against the tree. 'This is a bad dream, yes it's a bad dream... I wake up soon' you desperately tried to convince yourself in your head. The sudden pain in your hip brings you back to reality. You can feel how weaker your body becomes the more time is passing, blood loss affecting you.

You hear a sudden noise, it sounds like someone is humming a lullaby. A lullaby? Curiously you look around but the mist is so thick you barely can see anything. Is this your imagination playing tricks on you? It could be, after all, you lost so much blood and your brain could make you hear or see strange things. Carefully you step away from the tree you were resting at, still hearing the humming from a distance. This is definitely not your imagination, someone is humming here in this forest and it sounds like a female person. Someone? This is your ticket to get rescued! While listening carefully from which direction the humming is coming from, you start walking weakly deeper into the forest.

"Hello? Is anybody there?" you ask with a loud voice which echos through the woods. No answer...

"HELLO? Please I need help...I...I'm injured badly and-",

The humming started to sound much louder. Are you close to your life savior finally? You stay quiet, trying to hear if the humming keeps becoming louder or weaker. It gets louder and louder, you can hear footsteps. Out of sudden panic controls you, who would hum a lullaby deep in the forest? There isn't much time to think, something flies to your direction and misses you only by inches. Your eyes widen in shock, was this just a dagger? 'Run! RUN for your life' your brain orders you but you stand frozen, turning your head slowly back to see a hatchet lodged deep into the tree, which apparently was supposed to hit YOU.

Sense of fear wash over you at the sight of a tall shadow stepping closer you. You step slowly back, a tree root stopped you and you came down onto the ground. With fear written on your face you look up, "Wh...who are you? Please don't hurt-". You lose your voice as you find a tall figure starts walking closer towards you, she carries a large axe with both hands. Your eyes were too blurry but you could see it was definitely a female person, a tall strong looking one and her face was covered in a rabbit mask.

You take your time to inspect her while your heart is beating loudly and fast. It seems like she inspects you curiously too. Her hands are covered in what looks like mud and blood. She must have been hunting something, blood spatters across her clothes and you can't figure out in which region people would wear something as she wore. You can hear her panting in a deep voice, there is something about her that tells you she has a thrill for the hunt.

"девушка..." you hear her saying surprisingly softly. She bends down and takes a closer look at you, placing her big ax on the ground next to herself. Her hand reaches out to you and instinctively you raise your hand immediately and shield your face with your arm, looking at her with terrified eyes. A shiver ran down your spine as she looked at you.

"Little girl...my girl". You look at her confused, her accent sounds like Russian people. "Pl...please don't hurt me..." you manage to tell her in a trembling voice. The sharp pain in your hip makes you whimper and place your hand on your hip again. She looks at you and tilts her head, "молодая девушка, pain?".

You slowly nod and take your hand away from your hip, showing her your bloody hand and your wound. She looks at your hand and then to your wound, understanding you have been injured. "Little one, come" she orders you. You look at her and shake your head fast, You might be dizzy from the blood loss but you aren't crazy to follow a stranger covered in blood who tried to hit you with her hatchet not a while ago. She suddenly grunts at you and grabs your arm harshly, you whimper and your heart races fast, never it has beaten so fast like now.

"Girl come with me!" she yells at you and pulls at your arm. You try to pull your arm away from her iron grip, which makes her tighten her grip on your arm. "LET GO OFF ME!" you shout at her and regret it immediately. A strong slap land on your face making your cheek burn which made you jump a bit and wince in pain, This person has amazing strength as a woman.

"слушать меня!" she yells at you aggressively. Confused you look at her, not understanding at all what she is saying. She raises her hand again in a warning manner. You can't figure out what she wants and struggle once more, no matter how much you struggle, she is just too strong to get out of her grip. She shook her head and grabbed you by the chin with her free hand to make you look at her, now you can clearly see her hand is covered in mud and blood...the hand of a Huntress."You come, ты умрешь!" she warns you with a serious tone once again and starts breathing hard and angry sounding, like an animal almost.

A sense of fear washes over you, tears immediately filled your eyes. "Не плачь! Little one, save" she tells you as you tears stream down your face. You don't wanna follow her and keep sitting on the wet ground. With a deep sigh, she stands up and takes her axe into her hands again. You might have reached the limit with her patience.

You look up to her and your vision becomes more and more blurry, shaking your head a few times in hope that you see clearly again. You see the mysterious woman is tilting her head as she talks to you, only hearing weak echos and not clear words. It's the last thing you see and hear before you blacked out.


	2. My name is...

Fire is flicking in the fireplace.

Slowly you open your eyes, your vision is still a bit blurry but you can see you aren't in the forest anymore. "W-Where I am...?" you whisper to yourself. You find yourself laying in a bed, It looks like you are in a shack? The walls are all made of wood.

"My head, ugh..." still laying on an unfamiliar wooden bed. All you can remember is that you met a strange woman in the woods. Slowly you sit up and inspect your surrounding with curious eyes, is this the place of this mysterious woman? Your hip suddenly starts to pain and you look down at it, a thin blanket covers the view. Carefully you pull the blanket away and see a bandage wrapped around your hip.

It must be the woman with the rabbit mask who nursed you after you passed out. You touch your forehead and feel a bandage wrapped around there as well. "This is weird, why she took me here instead of calling the police? And why I'm here-" a sudden pain in your head makes you shut your eyes, why can't you remember anything but only the mysterious woman who had approached you when you were vulnerably sitting on the ground.

"Did she kidnap me? Is she keeping me as a hostage?" you keep looking around. "Hello? Excuse me?" you ask loudly and wait for a response, you get no response back. "She must be out then, this is my chance," Slowly you try to stand up but your injuries start to pain which makes you wince. "Damn it" you curse to yourself and shut your eyes, waiting for the pain to pass.

You hold your head with your hand, still feeling dizzy. Slowly you place your feet on the wooden ground, it feels cold. Carefully you take a few steps forward, this must be her place no doubt. You see a few axes at the corner of the room, fur decorations, and few photos on a wooden drawer. On the other side of the room, you see her small old stone kitchen. It has a small wooden oven, sink made of stone. Everything looks so old fashioned, but at the same time, this small place doesn't scare you much and feels cozy if you knew you weren't kidnapped at least. Curiously but cautious you step towards the photos on the wooden drawer.

Blood starts dripping on the ground. You look to your hip and realize the bandage got a bit loose. "Oh no..." you sit on the ground and try to tighten it again, heavy blood drops still dripping from your wound onto the ground. As you were trying to do a knot, heavy footsteps can be heard. You look up and see the wooden door opens slowly. The tall woman whose face is still covered in a rabbit mask steps in. She is holding her heavy axe with one hand, blood smeared all over it, and her clothes. In her other hand, she is holding two dead squirrels. "девушка!" she shouts in a worrying tone and places everything on the ground. Quickly she walks to you and bends down to you.

"Little why?!" The stranger asks you and looks at your hip. "Не двигайся! No move girl!" she orders you and brings her hand closer to you. Instinctively you jump back a bit, afraid that she is about to hit you. The woman takes gently your hand away from the bandage. Carefully she opens the bandage, not completely but enough to wrap it tightly around your hip again. "Good?" you hear her asking, her head tilted to the right. You're not sure what she is asking but assume it might be about the bandage. "Yes, t-thank you" you respond with a shaky voice.

She looks at you, "Girl, good?" It seems like she didn't understand your answer. You nod, "Yes."

" будь осторожна, little," Slowly she raises again and picks you up effortlessly, carrying you bridal style back to the wooden bed and places you gently on it, "Sleep," she walks back to her ax on the ground and picks up the lifeless bodies of those two squirrels. You are sure she is living in this forest alone, she must be a Huntress. The woman places the catch she made onto the wooden table and looks at you then, "девушка, no move," you nod at her and she walks out again.

It doesn't take her long to return with a wooden bucket. Slowly she closes the door and walks to her small kitchen. She starts washing the sharp blade of her ax in the sink, pouring the bucket water on it. "Uhmm, excuse me could you please call the police? I'm very confused and I can't remember anyth-" The tall woman suddenly turns her head to you and walks to the fireplace, placing her axe next to it. "Girl food? Eat?" you see her drying her hand with a piece of fabric that she picked up from the wooden table close by. "N-No, thank you for your nursery but I need to-" She walks to you and tilts her head, obviously not understanding what you're talking about.

The Huntress sits next to you on the bed, "тебе следует отдохнуть," you blink at her a few times confusedly, the language barrier between you two is only wasting extra time, you only want to be taken to the police or at least call them over here. "Rest, sleep девушка" trying to make you understand what she has been saying before. You shake your head. Suddenly you are pushed harshly onto your back, "REST!" she yells at you in an aggressive commanding tone. You lay on your back, nothing you can do against the strength of this woman. "Little girl, save, save" you hear whispering and placing the thin blanket back over you.

You feel how your head starts aching which makes you whimper quietly. The huntress in her rabbit mask stands up and walks to the kitchen, filling a glass of water to bring it for you. "Little one, drink" handing you over the glass of water. You slowly sit up a bit, your throat has been feeling dry so you quickly drink up and smile at her. "Thank you," you tell her with a smile on your face. You can see how her lips form into a smile. It's hard to see her expressions while she wears that rabbit mask that is covering half of her face.

She nods, understanding you just thanked her. "Th-t-tan-k you" she repeats to herself, it seems like she is trying to learn the word since English isn't her first language. You see her standing up from the bed, taking the glass away from you, and placing it on the small wooden drawer next to the bed. "Me food make, little girl eat," she tells you and walks towards the table with the two squirrels, does she mean she is going to prepare those? You look away and can imagine what she is about to do, skinning the poor small animals and preparing them as 'food'. You put the blanket over your head, sounds like a knife is probably taken from the kitchen.

You try to not pay attention to what this woman is doing, but you can't deafen yourself and hear how she is cutting into the flesh and bones of the squirrels. "No scare little, food good," you can hear the smile in her voice. Heavy footsteps can be heard getting closer. Suddenly the blanket isn't over your head anymore and you see the tall woman standing in front of the bed, cleaning her hand with the same fabric she used a while ago. "хватит прятаться, no hide". You look up to her and she gets closer to you. your heart starts beating fast. The strong woman goes with her hand in your direction which makes you squirm uncomfortably and shut your eyes terrified. You hear how something like a curtain is being pulled away. Slowly you open your eyes and see she has moved the curtains away next to the bed.

"девушка, look," you turn your head to the window next to you. You didn't notice there was a window next to the bed. The scenery is tall pines, mist, and rain pouring down, decorating the window with small shiny drops. She moves away from you and goes back to cut the meat. You look outside the window, this woman doesn't seem to be someone who would hold you or anyone as a hostage, but you might be wrong about it. What does she want from you then? They say never judge a book by its cover but she hasn't done anything to you, besides being forceful with commanding you. She took care of your wounds and bad injuries, makes you rest, and prepared food now. How can someone alone in the woods kidnap a person and hold them as a hostage? It doesn't make sense to you.

You sigh and stare outside. "What should I do," you mutter softly. The stranger looks in your direction and keeps preparing the meat. You turn your head and look at her. The meat seems finally prepared and she puts everything including a few vegetables into a steel pot, letting everything cook together. She takes an old scissor from her kitchen, one handkerchief, and walks towards you. Slowly she sits down next to you. "Дай взглянуть,". You look at her, tilting your head. The woman points with the scissor at your hip, seems like she is talking about the wound? You crawl a bit back to give her more space and sit up a little bit more straight. 

She takes the scissor close to the bandage, causing you to flinch. "я осторожнo, I care, careful."

Cautiously the scissor cuts the bandages around your hip. You feel anxious seeing the sharp scissor cutting through the bandages. The woman places the bloody bandages on the wooden drawer next to the bed and takes a close look at the wound. She murmured something in her language and took the handkerchief to clean the wound, very gentle and careful to not hurt you. You let out a painful groan and clench your teeth. "Finish little, finish" she whispers to you and wraps your hip in new bandages. You look at her, seeing her smile. Why she didn't take off the rabbit mask yet? Carefully she brings her hand closer to your head, "не беспокойся".

You look up to her hand and feel how she opens the bandage wrapped around your head. "Good, девушка, good," you can see her still having a smile on her lips. After cleaning the wound on your forehead she doesn't wrap a bandage around your head anymore. Does that mean she was telling you, your forehead is healing faster than your hip?

Her hand is stroking your head slowly and gently like you were a porcelain doll which could break if she isn't careful enough. You feel how her fingers stroke through your hair. "Beautiful girl" she whispers and stands up. Your gaze follows her. After checking the pot, she sits on a chair and takes a hatchet. You watch her curiously sharpen the blade of it. Your head and body start to feel warm, like a fever. You keep watching her and lay down slowly, cheeks starting to feel hot. Weakly you close your eyes, this place seems to be safe enough to rest a little, at least you hope so.

You are in a forest? What are you doing here? Slowly and carefully you start walking. Footsteps can be heard getting closer to you from a distance. Scared you start running off, deep into the woods. The heavy footsteps seem to reach you no matter how fast you were running. You look around and hide behind a tall tree. A shadow-like figure is walking in your direction. It comes closer and closer to you, you shut your eyes and start crying. Suddenly your shoulder is grabbed and pulled with force. "HELP!"

You open your eyes wide and look at the wooden ceiling, panting fast, was it a nightmare? "девушка! Little one?!" you hear the 'familiar voice' if you can call it like that, shouting panicky. Quickly she comes over to you and bends down, "Good? Little girl good?" her tone sounds clearly worried. You nod, "Y-Yes". The woman lets out a relieved sigh and touches your forehead gently, "заболела". Does she mean you have a fever? It does feel like it and her testing your temperature might be what she is trying to tell you. "Girl care, good" pointing at herself and then to you. "I care, care you".

You understand that she is trying to tell you that she will be taking care of you. You nod slowly, it's the only way to make her understand your agreement. You start feeling that your face and body burn. It definitely must be a fever.

The Huntress takes the wooden bucket and walks out. You wish you could remember something, anything. Why you were in that car, who were the other two people in it? Why you were lost in this forest. You slowly close your eyes, listening to the fire flickering in the fireplace. Forcefully you try to remember something before the car accident. "It's no use...no matter how much I try, I just can't remember anything," you whisper to yourself disappointedly. You hear the door opens. The woman whose name you don't know yet is back again, the bucket filled with water now. She goes to the kitchen to take a small towel and walks then towards the bed you were laying on.

"My girl..."

Why does she call you her girl? Is it due to her broken English? Or does she mean something else by it? You look at her with big eyes and smile nervously. She smiles back and moistens the fabric in the water, placing it carefully on your forehead. "Protect little one," she tells you in a serious tone and takes a wooden chair to place it close to the bed, watching over you.

This woman is way too kind to be a kidnapper. You look at her hands which are covered in scratches and old bruises, holding a knife. She is carving something. It looks like a small doll or figure to you. "Is this a doll?" you ask her curiously. Her eyes wander to you and she tilts her head, "D-Dol?" asking you back. You nod and point to her hand. She shows you the wooden figure and it's indeed a small wooden doll. You smile, "Doll". The woman looks at your lips and repeats it a few times and nods then, "Me do Doll, кукла". You try to repeat the word for it in her language but fail, "кукла, Kukla" she tries to teach you more easily. "Kukla," you repeat after her and she nods happily, overjoyed you managed to say something in her language.

"Как тебя зовут?" the Huntress asks you. You shake your head, letting her know you can't understand her. "имя," she points her finger at you. Still confused about what she is trying to ask, you sit up a bit and hold the wet towel in your hands. Out of ideas on how to communicate with her, you point at yourself, "Me?" She nods and repeats, "Как тебя зовут? имя."

You shake your head again. The woman starts to think, grumbling to herself in her language. "Как тебя зовут?" she asks you again but this time, she points with her finger at herself.

"Anna," you hear her saying in a calm voice while still pointing at herself, "имя, imya", giving you a warm smile.

Now you understand what she was trying to ask you. You smile back and point at yourself, "imya..." suddenly your brain doesn't respond anymore. "imya...my name is..."


	3. Lullaby

"M-My name is..." you squeeze the wet towel in your hands. Blank, nothing comes to your mind. How could you forget your name? "Imya..."

Anna stares at you, she can see you have troubles to tell her your name. Does she realize that you can't remember or don't know your own name? "Imya...name..." you repeat to yourself several times while staring down to your hands which keeps squeezing the towel nervously. You force yourself to remember what your name is but no matter how much you think, nothing comes into your mind not even random names.

"Little girl, no imya?" The Huntress asks you and tilts her head. Disappointedly you shake your head and keep looking down to your hands, placing the towel on the wooden drawer next to the bed. Anna looks at your hands, she can feel the distress in your behavior. You can feel two rough overworked hands hold your own smaller hands. Even though her fingers were covered in cuts and bruises, her hands feel warm and caring.

You look up and meet her soft smile. "Little, imya", Anna still holds both your hands in hers gently. She keeps smiling at you and you smile shyly back at her.

The huntress lifts your hands while still holding them in hers. She slowly places them on your chest, "Kukla," you hear her telling you cheerfully. You blink confusedly, doll? Does she mean you look like a doll to her? "девушка, Kukla" Anna takes her hands away from yours and points with her index finger at you.

"Little girl, Kukla, beautiful". You start to understand it is indeed what she is trying to tell you. She hears you giggling softly at her remark.

"Thank you," you tell her. The taller woman stands up and goes to the kitchen to check up on the food she was letting cook earlier. You see her coming back to you and taking the small towel into her hands. "Girl, rest". Gently you feel yourself being pushed to lay on your back again. Anna moistens the small towel with the cold water in the wooden bucket. Her big hand touches your forehead, "Girl good, Anna help," she tells you with a caring voice. The wet cold towel is placed on your forehead, it feels refreshing and good.

The woman's hand carefully stokes your head, "Anna's girl", you hear her whispering. You still can't understand why she calls you her girl like you belong to her. Exhausted, you slowly close your eyes. Anna was sitting on the wooden chair in front of the bed. Strangely you feel save that she is watching over you, continuing carving the small wooden doll.

A hand is shaking you gently awake. You open your eyes and see the woman in her rabbit mask leaning down a bit. How long have you been sleeping? Few hours maybe?

"Anna..." you whisper and look at her. Your fever went down a bit but you still feel dizzy and weak. "Food? девушка eat?" Anna asks you. She sits on the bed next to you, "да, da," Anna nods, "нет," she shakes her head.

If you weren't wrong, the huntress is trying to teach you the basics in her language, yes and no. You nod your head to let her know you understood her. "Little, food?".

"da."

Anna sees you nodding and stands up from the bed. She makes a wooden bowl ready for you.

"малышка, hot!" She tells you as she hands you over the wooden bowl. You carefully take it and have to admit that the smell of it is heavenly, maybe because you are too hungry? "Thank you." The woman sits on a chair at the wooden table and is resting her head on her hands. You can see her smiling at you. Eating squirrels isn't something you remember at all but this food in front of you smells very good so it can't be that bad right? You take a spoonful of the stew and slowly try to eat it.

"O-ouch!" You burn your tongue. Anna hears you whimpering which makes her chuckle at you. Your cheeks turn red, how embarrassing.

After tasting the stew, you realize it surprisingly doesn't only smell good but tastes delicious too. "Good?" Anna asks you while still resting her head on her hands, smiling warmly at you. "Da!", this was something you wouldn't mind eating every day even. Hungrily you keep eating the stew and see how Anna was pleased to see you liking the food she prepared for you.

As you were eating, you start thinking again about why this woman didn't call anyone yet. You don't wanna make conclusions yet about something you aren't sure about. She isn't holding you as a hostage, no way.

"Girl, not good?" The Huntress asks you, making you blink a few times and shake your head, "It's good! Good!". After finishing the stew, Anna stands up and takes the bowl from you. She places it in the kitchen and searches for something. "You don't wanna eat?" you ask her while still resting on the bed, watching her searching in her small kitchen. Her head turns to you but she remains silent, right, this woman doesn't understand longer sentences.

"Uh-Eat? Anna eat?" your finger points at her. The tall woman shakes her head, seems like she understood now what you were asking.

She places a Mortar and pestle on the wooden table and takes out few kinds of dried herbs from a small box. Without any instructions, she places in a few of the dried herbs into the small marble bowl and starts crushing them. With curious eyes you watch the woman pulverizing everything quickly. It looks like she has experience in this, it's not the first time she is using the mortar and pestle.

You can see how she adds a few drops of some liquid into the mixture. "What are you doing?". Anna tilts her head, "D-Doi? Do?", you nod at her question, "What are you doing". The woman starts to think a bit, "Anna do, лекарство, lekarstvo," she keeps thinking, "Medicine, little girl."

Anna holds the little bowl and takes few thin fabrics. She walks to you and places it on the small drawer next to the bed. "малышка, Anna look," you can feel her warm hand being placed carefully on your forehead. Her lips form into a gentle smile, "Good," she takes the small bowl and looks down at your hip. "я буду осторожен".

You place your hand on the bandages, not sure what she is talking about but assume it's about the wound. The huntress helps you to open them carefully and slowly. Gently, she pats the fabric into the mixture and then on your wound. "A-agh!" you whimper loudly. Anna looks at you and hesitates to continue, "It's all good, please don't worry, good," you tell her with a nod, letting her know she is allowed to continue. Her hand holding the thin fabric continues patting very gentle on the wound. The wound starts burning which pains you a lot but if this is gonna help, it's worth enduring the pain.

As she keeps cleaning the wound and wrapping your hip in new bandages, you can hear the crackle of the fireplace and rain still echoing outside. After Anna finishes wrapping the bandages around your hip, she stands up, you hear an exhausted sigh leaving the woman's lips. She takes the dirty bandages and fabrics. "Why do you help me?" you ask her nervously. "Help little?" Anna asks you back while holding everything in her hands. You nod at her, "Why?". The huntress smiles warmly, "Why? Зачем?", she starts to think, "Anna like, like Kukla, Anna protect little girl."

This doesn't help you out much. She is very kind and caring but still a stranger. You look up to her, "Why don't you call the police?". Suddenly she stares at you, "NO! Poli-no! нет!", she shouts in an aggressive tone. "нет! ANNA CARE! NO politsiya!" Her thick accent took over her answer. It looks like you've hit a nerve with bringing up the police, does that mean she is keeping you as a hostage? Kidnapped? Were you thinking right about this? The huntress starts shaking panicky. Her hands trembling nervously.

"N-No police!" Frantically you shake your hands in front of yourself, trying to calm down the tall woman in front of you. "No," she repeats quietly after you and you can hear heavy footsteps getting closer. Anna throws everything on the ground and crouches in front of the bed. "Anna's little one, Я тебя не отпущу!" she shouts at you again. Her hand roughly grabs your chin firmly. The gentle woman from before changed completely. She adds pressure on your chin which makes your jaw ache and tears form in the corner of your eyes. "A-ANNA, please!"

You can see through the holes at the eye area of her rabbit mask that her eyes were narrowed, full of hate. Your heart starts beating fast. If she keeps adding more pressure, it might even break your jaw.

Immediately she let's go off your chin. "Little one! Anna no bad! Protect!" you could hear the woman telling you in a desperate tone. She cups your face with both her calloused hands, "Мне жаль! Мне жаль" Anna repeats as she wipes your tears from your cheeks with her thumbs. "Shh...Shh...Little one, save."

Frozen you stare at her, something is wrong with this woman. It looks like she kinda might have some personality disorder. She keeps holding your face and mumbles something in her language. Her eyes changed from the hateful look into regret. You place your trembling hands gently on hers and nod. The Huntress's eyes widen, her lips curling into a relieved smile.

Now that she was closer to your face you could see all the scars and bruises on the lip area. Her upper lip was busted, it had a split which you didn't notice before. Is it that harsh to live alone in a forest by yourself? Did wild animals attack her? Causing all those injuries and bruises?

"я буду защищать тебя" she whispers close to your face and stands up. You take a moment to breathe in and out, several times to calm down yourself. Anna opens the drawer next to the bed and takes out an old comb. The woman grabs your shoulder which makes you gasp in surprise. She turns you around so your back faces her. You can hear a chair is being pulled closer to the bed. She sits on it and holds your hair from behind in her hands. You flinch and shut your eyes, scared that she might hurt you. The comb starts brushing gently and carefully through your hair.

Anna starts humming softly. It's the same lullaby you've heard in the forest. She keeps humming while brushing your hair. Slowly you open your eyes again and look outside the window in front of you. It keeps raining, almost looking like it would never stop to rain in the woods, her woods. What will you do? Is there a way to convince her to call the police? Anyone? What is she planning to do with you?

"Beautiful, Beautiful Kukla," she whispers from behind. Ever so slowly, she keeps brushing and brushing your hair.


	4. Danger call

It started to snow outside.

You were looking outside the window, watching the small snowflakes. Anna had brushed your hair, she did some check-ups on you. The woman had let you sleep on her bed and placed another pillow and blanket on the ground, next to you. Since you've been exhausted, you fell asleep pretty fast.

After waking up, you were sitting up, the Huntress was still asleep. Did you wake up maybe a bit too early? The mist is so thick in this forest it covers even the daytime with the extra fog created by the cold season and weather. You squint your eyes and clean the foggy window with your hand. No use, it still looks like yesterday in the woods. "Maybe I should-" a sudden idea comes into your mind. If she is still sleeping you've could just find her phone and call the police. "Does she even have a phone?" You whisper to yourself as you try to stand up from the bed.

Gently you place your feet on the wooden ground to not wake up the sleeping woman. You take one step forward carefully, your eyes focused on Anna. Luckily she is still asleep which means she probably didn't hear you get up from the bed. Extremely careful and cautious you tiptoe your way to the wooden drawer at the other side of the room. You hold in your breath as it would make you lighter. Your head turns back several times to make sure she didn't wake up. It feels like Anna would throw a tantrum if she sees you walking around.

"Lucky," you whisper under your breath and breathe out finally. There is a photo of another woman on her drawer, perhaps her mother? A beautiful wooden box is there as well which caught your eyes. The top was decorated with shiny colorful looking stones. Is it okay to peek inside it quickly? The Huntress didn't wake up yet so she wouldn't even know you looked inside the small box.

"No, that's wrong to do," you try to convince yourself but curiosity always wins in your case. You take the small wooden box into your hands and inspect it, poking the small stones on it. It does look really old but it definitely has its own charm. Carefully you open it. "Beautiful...such shiny jewelry, from where did she get them?" There were many rings and necklaces in the box, all of them twinkling like stars to you. But why would someone deep in the woods possess something like that? And from where could she find them? Did she maybe make them by hand? If yes then there must be some mine around this area.

You find on the bottom few what it seems like, polaroid looking photos. Curiously you take a look at them. The same woman on the drawer photo can be seen on them, holding a baby. Could it be that baby on the photo is Anna? There were some other photos of soldiers. Why is this woman living alone then? Is her mother dead or just not living with her?

Enough with curiosity. You put everything inside the box again and place it back, certainly you don't wanna wake her up or invade her privacy. You wanted to find a phone and not look into her private belongings. The old looking phone was on the wooden drawer, this is your chance. The plan would be simple. You just dial the police's number and tell them you are being held forcefully by a woman and they just find you afterward. "Alright, I can do this."

Suddenly your hands start to tremble, what's wrong? It's just a call you have to do why you got so nervous out of sudden? "What the hell-" This is ridiculous. Your hands keep trembling and you can feel the cold sweat on your forehead. There was silence. Only your nervous breathing and sound of rain pattering against the leaky roof could be heard. You take one step back. The wooden floor creaked beneath your weight, it makes your heart stop.

"девушка..." The Huntress slowly opens her eyes and immediately stands up after seeing you standing at the wooden drawer, "Little girl?! Что делаешь? What?" she asks you and hesitantly takes her axe into her hands. "I-I, I didn't do anything! I was just curious about the box and-" you panicky try to justify yourself. Anna steps closer towards you. "девушка, go? Little one go?" Is she trying to ask you if you were about to escape? You can't tell if she is disappointed or angry, the rabbit mask covers her expression a lot.

Your body acts on its own, stepping back with each step she takes forward. "LITTLE GIRL?! LEAVE ANNA?" The woman asks you, raising her deep voice on you. "нет! net! No, NO!" You crane your neck, still stepping back till your back hits the wooden wall. "I was looking at the box, box!" quickly you point towards the small wooden box with your index finger. Anna looks to the box but it seems like you made her even more furious, "ты прикоснулся к этому? LOOK? Anna's?!". The tall woman was standing now in front of you, close, dangerously close. She crouches to meet your height, axe still in her hands. You could see the steely gaze underneath her mask. Instinctively, you hug your arms in a protecting way. "Sorry...I'm sorry!".

"NO touch, Anna's!" Anna seems to have understood you didn't have any intention to leave, at least that's what you tried to make it look like. "Anna's very very...very," she looks to the box and stares at it. "Important?" You add. Maybe she is trying to tell you the box is very important and precious to her. The Huntress stands up slowly, "I-Impor?" You can hear her trying to repeat what you just asked her. Slowly you nod your head, "Important for Anna."

To help her to understand the meaning of it, you place both your hands on your chest, where your heart is. "Important". Anna smiles and nods, looking at your smaller hands. "Anna's impor-important" she points at the box and places her axe on the ground. Placing both her hands like you on her chest where her heart is. "Kukla, important," you could see her smiling sweetly at you.

Your cheeks flush into a red deep color. How can you be important to her? She doesn't know who you are and cares like she had known you for a long time, a very long time. How can someone turn to someone else so important within such a short time? It really confuses you, what does this woman really want from you? You didn't realize you were staring at her. "Anna's Kukla...", her voice softened and she raises her hand, reaching to you. Instinctively, you flinch and shut your eyes. Anna tilts her head and takes her hand back. With opening your eyes slowly, you've could see the disappointment in her eyes. Whenever she was close to you, you could see her eyes from the holes on the mask around the eye area and somehow read her feelings.

She remains silent. Did you hurt her feelings with the fact that you still can't trust her? You look nervously at the wooden ground, what does she expect? After all, you have to admit to yourself that the woman in front of you does scare you. Not knowing her and not knowing why she keeps you forcefully at her place simply gives a distrusting image.

Anna lets out a deep sigh and walks towards the kitchen. You sat down on the wooden chair in front of the table, watching her. What frustrates you is that you couldn't even figure out if the phone was just for decoration purpose or functional. Your gaze wanders to the fireplace, how long you're supposed to stay here? You don't even know what your name is and you can't remember anything yet you are sitting here with some strange woman trying to forcefully take 'care' of you.

A wooden plate is placed in front of you, breaking you from your thoughts. "Little one eat," the Huntress orders you, not offering but ordering. "Thank you..." you look at her, is she mad? Her tone does sound like she isn't in a good mood. There was some homemade-looking bread on it and a slice of cheese. Anna's plate was the same. She sat down on the chair in front of you and looked over to you, "No like?"

Instantly you start eating your breakfast, letting her know in your own way that you do like it. The bread is a little dry but the taste of it makes it up, it taste really good to you even the cheese isn't bad tasting either. Her lips form the usual smile on her face, does that mean she isn't angry at you? That's good, you definitely don't wanna get into a fight with this strong Huntress in front of you. After you both finished eating breakfast, Anna took a leather belt and wore it around her waist. Few small hatchets were placed there. She took her axe into her hands and glanced over to you, "Little stay, no move, stay, я вернусь." You nod slowly to show her you understood and agreed.

Anna leaves, closing the door. Did she just trust you and leave you alone? This isn't a dream, right? Immediately you run towards the phone on the drawer, "Finally, I can get help." You kinda were thinking about what consequences this could have but you didn't care much, all you wanted is to get out of here, soon as possible and there might not be a second chance to use the phone. Nervously you pick up the phone. No sound, nothing can be heard, "No way...NO WAY," frantically you press all buttons randomly in hope that there might a tone come out from it. No matter how hard you press on the buttons, it didn't make a change.

"Don't tell me this is only for decoration purpose..." Shocked you stare at the phone. What can you do? If no one knows you're stuck at this place, no one would be able to come and rescue you. Another way would be more dangerous but it seems like it's the last option for you, to go out and find some way out of this forest. You walk towards the wooden door and try to open it. It won't open of course, how could you be so naive and think that she wouldn't lock the door? "What now? Is there a way to get out from here?"

You look to the window, this is it. The curtains were pulled away in an instant, it kept snowing? This isn't better than rain but that shouldn't bother you now. After the window made an click, a heavy cold winter wind blew against your face. "Shit..."

You placed one leg out from the window frame, stepping into the soft cotton-like snow. There wasn't much snow but enough to cover your ankle almost. Slowly you finally came out from the shack. Is this a smart decision or pure stupidity to wander off into the woods while it's snowing hard? Your mind couldn't decide what's wrong or right. You were clinging on that small hope that would take you out safely from this forest. Unsure about your decision, you start walking into the woods.

Everyting was covered in white. Sometimes you shook off the snow from your head and clothes only to be covered in it again shortly after. "S-So-C-cold..." The deeper you walked into the woods, the more you came to the realization that you shouldn't go off by yourself in some unfamiliar area. After walking a bit more your feet started to feel numb in your shoes. It looks like snow had entered them, melting inside your shoes and freezing your toes, causing your feet to feel numb almost. With the last strength left in your body, you kept walking deeper into the forest.

Forcefully you were pushing yourself to move forward, to find a way out. It didn't take you long to fall on your knees exhaustedly, shivering from the cold. "I don't wanna die here..." you whispered to yourself and rubbed your hands together, breathing into them. They had become red from the cold snowy weather.

A dark shadow further away catches your attention and makes you blink a few times. Is this Anna? You never thought you would be so happy to see the woman again who was forcefully keeping you at her place, for whatever reason. "A-Anna?!" you call for her name but no response came back. Is she maybe angry at you that you left the shack without her allowance? "Anna im sorry..."

The shadowy figure becomes clear. It's not Anna. Your eyes widen in shock and you fall on your back. "No! Stay away from me!" Panicky you crawl back. A wild bear had appeared in front of you. This animal could kill you within seconds. Your heart started to race and the pure adrenaline coursing through your veins, yet you were sitting on the snowy ground. You hold your breath in, staring at the wild animal in front of you.

"ANNA! PLEASE HELP ME!"

Your voice echoed through the huge forest as you screamed. If Anna was still outside, could she have heard your voice by any chance? If yes, it would be a miracle. The huge predator was looking at your way. A cold shiver ran down your spine. It could attack you any time, any moment. You kept yourself silent, trying to not anger it. Tears formed in the corner of your eyes, why did you just not stay at Anna's place?

You swallowed to gulp in your throat and stared back at the huge animal. It wasn't close to you but it would take the beast only seconds to run to you and attack you. After a short while, the wild animal started to move a bit, looking around but moving to your direction. A sense of fear washes over you. Instantly adrenaline controls you. You stand up fast and start running off. Nowhere particular but just escaping death. You've could hear its heavy paws hitting the snowy ground, running after you.

All the pain from your wound, frozen feet were completely ignored as you were panting and running into the woods.

"Ah!" Time suddenly slowed down for you as you tripped over your own feet and fell down on your face. You raise your head, it was whirling. You felt like you were about to pass out. Scared and with a trembling body, you sat up and shielded your face with both forearms. Is this the end for you? Will the wild animal shred you into pieces?

You squeezed your eyes shut. Your heartbeat seems to be exploding in your ears currently. Only a miracle could save you now.

"HAAH!"

A hatchet hits the tree behind you. A hatchet? This can't be the exact same person you were calling for help, or can it be? Slowly you open your eyes and see that was Anna standing on the right side, a bit further away. Her clothes were covered in fresh blood splatters. She was holding her bloody axe with both hands, ready to attack anything which would come too close to you. She hefted the axe like it weighed nothing in hands. The wild bear turns its head to the Huntress. From far you've could hear her panting and grunting, it sounded aggressive, just like an animal. The beast starts walking off, did it get scared by her? Or did it respect Anna?

"Малышка!" Anna panicky runs to you and drops her axe onto the ground. "Anna... ANNA! I-I w-was s-so afraid! I-I thought I'm gonna die!" You sobbed and knew she can't understand what you were talking about yet the words just flow out from your mouth.

The Huntress drops on her knees and cups your face with her bloody cold hands, "Little one, shhh...shhh, Anna protect little one," she whispered softly and checked on every spot of yours to make sure you were not injured anywhere. Anna suddenly pulled you into an embrace. She stroke the back of your head gently. Tears streamed down your cheeks. You pulled your hands up hesitantly but hugged the bigger woman back. It felt so warm and safe to be hugged by her. "Kukla...Anna's important...Anna's little one."

Anna kept hugging you tightly, you've could feel she really was worried about you, scared that something might have happened to you. While tears still run down your cheeks, you close your eyes and smile relieved.

It kept snowing but nothing else mattered, nothing, only the moment. None of you wanted to break the embrace...


	5. Mother

The snow didn't care.

Anna was carrying you piggy-back style. Slowly you opened your eyes, vision still a bit blurry. Her footsteps could be heard making the cotton looking like snow crunch. Your forearms were resting on her shoulders, rather weakly.

"Anna..." The woman heard you whispering and stopped walking for a second, "Little one, good? Hurt?" Anna asked you and started to walk again, not bothering with the cold freezing wind blowing. Your cheeks went red from the coldness and your jaw started to tremble. "I-I'm fine," you responded and rested your head against her back.

In this forest, covered in white like a fairytale, the only thing which made you feel safe was the woman who kept you forcefully by her side. She didn't want to hurt you nor she wanted you to be hurt. You didn't know what Anna wants, you couldn't know.

You closed your eyes exhaustedly. Anna was strong, stronger than a usual woman. Nothing seemed supernatural about her yet at the same time her strength seemed weird. Not much weird either at the same time for someone so tall and strong build, almost like a man. The huntress started to hum while carrying you through the woods. Her lullaby made you feel at ease, maybe that's why she was humming it, to make you feel safe and calm.

Before falling asleep on her back again, you've realized she had placed some fabric on you, perhaps from her own clothing.

The sound of fire flickering woke you up. You sit up and look around. Anna was sitting on a chair at the wooden table, head resting on it. Was she asleep?

You tried to stand up but immediately fell down on your knees. "Agh," you hissed and looked down on your ankle which was wrapped in bandages. Anna must have done this when you were asleep. she must have realized that you twisted your ankle and took care of it for you.

"Anna...Thank you." The woman didn't raise her head. Usually, she would be on full alert if you made any noise but this time, her head was peacefully and silently resting on the table. She must have gotten tired from walking and carrying you through the snow. You limped slowly towards her and looked down at her. Her head was slightly tilted and it was clear now that she was sleeping deeply.

You didn't want to wake her up and walked towards the bed, taking the blanket from it. Carefully you placed it on Anna. The Huntress kept sleeping. The bunny mask was still covering half of her face. Curiosity took over you. How did Anna look like? Was the rest of her face full of scars too? What did this woman look like underneath that rabbit mask?

"Maybe..." You whispered and reach out your hand to touch the mask. It felt so wrong, the urge of wanting to take the mask off. You weren't sure what exactly made your curiosity. As much as Anna was treating you like her most precious person, she didn't have your consent. You knew she didn't have any intention to hurt you yet it was unexplainable why this woman kept you here, forcefully.

Your hand stopped midway. You stared down at the woman who was still sleeping. Now or never.

You hold in your breath and slowly, you placed your hand on her mask. You searched immediately for a reaction, any reaction. Luckily Anna seemed to not have sensed anything. The excitement to see her face made your heart beat faster, cold sweat forming on the palm of your hands and forehead. Anna wouldn't get mad at you, would she? She wouldn't raise her hand on you, never-

The sudden touch of a calloused cold hand takes you out of your thoughts. You blink a few times and freeze. The huntress, awake, was staring at you through the holes of her mask. Her hand held yours firmly and she didn't say a word. You've panicked and tried to step away from her but her grip was too strong. She pulled you closer towards herself as she raised her head from the table.

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't wanna hurt you! Im-"

"Kukla?" Anna looks confusedly at you and stares at your hand, searching. She was searching for any injury on your hand and didn't seem to have realized what your intention was. "ты ранена??" She asks you and you look at your hand and then at her.

"Kukla, hurt?" The huntress asks you again, making sure you could understand her. You shake your head and look down on the ground, embarrassed about yourself. What did you think? How could you want to take the mask off? Anna is still a stranger to you. You didn't know her at all. You didn't know why she kept you at this place. You didn't know why this woman was living alone in such a huge looking forest.

"больно? Pain?" Anna questions you, her voice sounding worried as per usual. You shake your head again, staying silent.

Anna stands up, her tall figure looking down at you. You looked up at her and kept staying silent. She raised her hand which made you shut your eyes instinctively. You felt a hand stroking your head gently, almost too careful. Slowly you opened your eyes and you've could see the warm smile on her lips.

She took your hand and within a second, you were sitting on a chair. The huntress went down on her knees slowly. Her cold hand raised your foot. "Anna, look?"

You nodded, "Yes..."

Anna took a look at your ankle and turned your feet several times in different directions. You hissed painfully which made her look up to you. "Kukla? Pain?" You've heard her asking and you nodded fast. She massaged your ankle very gently which created goosebumps on your skin. It felt relaxing but at the same time so intimate. You didn't mind her touch, the touch where no bad intentions were hidden.

"Thank you," Anna could hear you whispering. She nodded in response, the warm, safe smile appearing on her lips again. You felt how your cheeks started to blush out of sudden. You were kinda embarrassed to see that woman kneeling in front of you, trying to make you feel less pain.

Why? Why can't you dislike her? In fact, you were feeling like you knew Anna for a long time, a very long time. You didn't feel uneasy around her but deep down, there was that feeling of being scared, occasionally whispering to you. Whispering that this woman isn't blood-related, that this woman was a stranger and perhaps, could break you in two whenever she desired.

Anna's hand grabbing yours broke you out of your thoughts. You looked down at her and blinked confusedly, what did she want?

Her hand guided yours down to her face, on her mask. You couldn't understand what she tried to tell you. "Anna...?"

"Kukla, Anna protect Kukla," The huntress told you in a low tone. You touched her mask with your fingers carefully, hesitant. A sudden feeling of unsureness took over you. Were you sure? Were sure you wanted to see who was really underneath that mask? Or better, were you ready for it? Now?

The huntress guided your hand down to her cheek which made you feel the old bruises on her cheek. Your finger traced down along a fresh one. It must happen when she went out to the forest, the same time you got lost. With trembling fingers, you stroke the bruise on her cheek. It felt like you've could open the bruise and make it bleed again if you touched it a bit harder and less careful.

"A-Anna...pain?" You whispered and stared at the wound on her cheek. Anna stayed silent, hand placed over yours still.

"Anna no, Kukla pain, Anna pain too," she responded. You puzzled her words together and blushed again. If you weren't wrong, the huntress just told you that if you were in pain, she would be in pain too. How could someone so strong and dangerous-looking make you feel so safe? How could this woman be so soft and caring, yet, be a big danger too? How?

Unintentionally, you stroked her cheek with your hand. Anna flinched slightly from your touch.

She kept looking up to you. None of you speaking a word. The huntress stands up, leaving you to sit on the chair. "Hungry?" Her deep but soft voice asks you as she walks towards the wooden drawer. "No, thank you," you responded and followed her with your eyes. Her back was facing you and slowly, she took the mask off. Your heart started to race fast, beating hard and loud against your chest.

You thought Anna would hear your heartbeat from this distance, it was so loud-sounding to you.

You could see her short hair which was reaching till her neck. A human, the first thing which crossed your mind. Anna was no different from any other woman besides her height and strength. She looked so unusually normal from behind, but why? Why did you get surprised by it? Did you think Anna was different? Something more, more than just a human. You were so distracted with your thoughts that you didn't realize she came back to you, holding a photo in her hand.

Anna had changed her rabbit mask. This one looked like a cat. You blinked and smiled at her. She sat down on the chair next to you and handed you over the photograph. You took it and looked at it. It was the same photo you've seen in the small wooden box. Your head tilts and you looked at Anna, "Is that you?" You asked the huntress and pointed with your finger on the baby and then at her.

She nods and points at herself, "Я тот ребенок." You couldn't understand her sentence but got the needed confirmation. Your finger points at the woman the child on the photograph was sitting on her lap. "Mother? Anna's Mother?"

Anna sighs and nods again, "Anna Mama," her voice cracked and you could hear the sadness in her tone. She placed her hands on her chest, right where her heart was. "No mama, Anna alone," the woman almost whispered. Did she mean her mother died? You didn't know how to react. "I'm sorry..." You whispered and looked down at the photo. Lonely, alone, weren't you in the same situation?

Somehwere lost. Alone.

After all, you weren't that different from Anna. Anna's hands ball into fists on her lap. You look nervously at her and can sense that something was wrong. She didn't talk, she didn't make any noise. The only thing which you've could hear was her uneven breathing.

"Anna?...Anna?!" You placed the photograph on the wooden table. Hesitantly, you reach your hand out, trying to reach her face. "ANNA's ребенок!" The huntress suddenly snaps at you and stands up angrily. You look up at her and stand up immediately, trying to ignore the pain your ankle caused you. She pushed you harshly towards the wooden wall and held your shoulders roughly.

"Kukla! Anna's prec-precio..." The taller woman stutters and keeps holding your shoulders.

For a second, she let go of your shoulders and you stumbled back, falling down on your butt. Anna bend down to you and grabbed your arm, pulling you up on your feet painfully. She seemed to have forgotten that your ankle was injured. "ANNA PLEASE! You're hurting me..." Tears form in the corner of your eyes and you look frightened at her. The huntress tilts her head and lets go of your arm. 

"Little one...Child..."

She falls down on her knees and takes both your hands into her big ones hesitantly, not sure if you were okay with it. You bite your lip and hold back your tears. Her emotions confused herself as much they confused you.

"Little one... Anna's little one...Anna mama...no run..." Anna places your hand on her cheek while looking up to you. She moves your hand down to her bruised lip and plants a soft kiss on it.

"Anna worry...no run, little one, stay." She whispers desperately against your hand. Her voice was so soft yet there was an obsessive undertone in it. You stared down at her, blinking away your tears. Anna wants to protect you, no matter what and you had to listen to her pleading.

But how could you accept this? You didn't know even your own name, you didn't know what happened, you didn't remember anything.

You had to agree, there wasn't consent in this. There was only one thing... 

Letting her have full control over you, your faith.

**Author's Note:**

> Anna's face reference for this story :
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JArgf2QCVF4&t=457s


End file.
